Dark Knight and White Queen
by InterestinglySherlock
Summary: A crossover story between Batman and Emma Frost. When a mysterious woman in white comes to Gotham and seems to pull everyone in her grasp, it's up to the Dark Knight and his team to cut her puppet strings. But is she a pawn herself? Check, mate.
1. Opening

**Chapter One: Opening**

A night of patrol turned to madness, and perhaps the only madness was what that this sort of thing was normal. Heavy boots tramped across the rooftops, dodging and dashing to avoid rapid fire shots of flitting bullets, all the while trying to find an opening in which to secure the objective. The objective being, to foil an obligatory bank robbery.

"Hey, where'd he go, boss?" cried the whiny voice of Big Grins Billy, a minor gang member. He held his old-fashioned tommy gun up as he nervously bit his tongue.

"He's still up there, so quit yappin' and keep shootin'!" yelled the large man under the yellow fedora, apparently being the one whom 'boss' was attributed to. The gangsters were cornered in the alley next to the brick bank building and were trying to force their way out before the police came and surrounded them. Already sirens could be heard, but the police were not very high on their list of worries at the moment.

"Is it true he eats th' bodies of his victims like a Drac' or somethin?" said Big Grins stupidly, which gained him a cuff on the head by another member.

"Stoopid, dat's zombies, not vampires. An' anyway, he's nothin' but a man like youse dimwits and me, and a man that can be whacked. So keep your eyes up on them roofs and whack 'im good!" yelled the green pinstripe-suited Terry, whose nickname was ironically the Whacker.

The streetlamp went out with a slight crackle of glass and the five gangsters panicked and shot wildly everywhere, and Big Grins yowled and grabbed his foot. "Yah doofus yah got me in the toe! Who did it!? I'll knock 'em a good one and show yah worse yah—" He stopped yelling when he realized that there was silence. He blinked in the darkness and held his tommy gun up nervously. "Guys?...Uh, guys? Where…where'd you go?"

His primal fear of Batman got to him and he began wildly shooting in a circle, yelling, not caring if any of his teammates got in the way. "Yaaaahhhhh! Take that, Batsy! Yah can't creep me out with this scary stuff, yah rodent! Yer nothin' but a _man_ and a man can be killed!"

"So can you," a deep, raspy voice hissed in his ear, the hot breath cooling in an instant as he gasped and saw no more.

The next thing the gangsters knew that they had a collective headache and were in the back of a paddywagon, with a certain dark knight looking down on them from the tip of an old gothic building.

"Hey!" yelled Big Grins before the police closed the doors of the paddywagon. "Hey, he _didn't_ kill us, we're _alive_! Hah _ha_! Timsky was right, the Bats don't kill!"

A Batarang sang through the air and embedded itself in the metal next to Big Grins head. He gaped, stared at the shiny metal thing, and fainted dead away.

"Way to scare 'im," laughed the brightly clad figure next to the man on the rooftop. "I mean, he had to have taken a dump right then and there. I know I would have. I mean if I was in his place." Robin looked at the humorless face of his mentor. "Not that I'd be gangster or anything. You know. Hey, it _was_ funny!"

"You were a little late," said Batman gruffly, who took one last look at the loud and busy police scene below him before stalking across the office rooftop. "I had to take them all out by myself."

"I was on a _date_! A date, you know, that thing you go on and have fun?" Robin rolled his eyes under his mask. "It's a rare thing for me, and these idiots had to go and ruin it by deciding to rob a bank. You know how stupid the excuse I gave—"

"Robbing a bank. It's odd, no one's robbed a bank in three years," mused the brooding figure, who looked out over the opposite end of the rooftop. "They know we patrol at this hour in this area, how uninformed and idiotic had they…they must be from out of town. Robin, get back on the computer and run a background check on one…Big Grins Billy and—"  
"Big Grins Billy? Kind of vague, about half the old-fashioned gangsters in this city have that name? Couldn't the police tell you anymore?" Robin sighed, coming up to the edge of the rooftop himself. Batman seemed to brood and think best when he was on the edge of something, apparently. "But seriously, criminals like that don't just up and waltz into town and take over someone's turf—they were organized, they were gangsters. They had to have known someone here. So maybe someone set them up?"

"Exactly," there was a hint of pride in Batman's normally stoic and emotionless voice. Tim Drake was more of a detective than ever, even more so than Dick had been. "And that's who we find. This might just be a random incident. But I have a feeling it's not."  
Batman was reaching into his utility belt for his grappling gun when Robin spoke up quickly. "Wait! There's someone else down there, in the alley!"

The caped man dashed over to the other end of the rooftop and perched silently with his younger partner as they watched a blond woman walk into the alley.

"How did she get past the pol—" Robin began but Batman put a finger to his mouth to immediately shush the kid. The woman didn't seem to notice their presence in the darkness above her, as she walked calmly and confidently into the alley. She was wearing a shockingly bright white trench coat-like garment. The bags of money had been left there for evidence and had not been photographed yet. She picked them up almost lazily and gathered up fallen wads of cash as she placed them into another open bag. Slinging the sacks over her shoulder, she calmly walked right out of the alley and into the busy police scene. Astonishingly, no one stopped her, and she made her way out in front of the bank and kept on going.

"I don't think she works for the city…" muttered Robin. A nod from Batman and the two were off, and lept across the alleyway and onto the steep roof of the bank. The rubber soles of their shoes struggled to grip the fancy shingles of the arched roof as they climbed onward, but they made it up and across and onto the next alley, over and onto the next building.

"There she is!" hissed Robin loudly as he prepared to jump of the edge of the building, hoping to cut the woman off at the sidewalk. She glanced sharply upwards.

"Where?" Batman reached the edge a half a second later, but the sidewalk below was full of onlookers and rubberneckers, hoping to catch some of the excitement of the bank robbery.

"What…" Robin looked confused. He rubbed his temples. "Maybe I drank too much caffeine today. I could have sworn those people…weren't there a second ago. She was there by herself!"

Batman stared long and hard at the crowd. There were too many people, and the blonde in the white coat was nowhere to be seen, up nor down the street. She had disappeared completely.

"Thanks, Robin. She heard you."

"Barely."

"She must be meta…" A small sigh barely escaped from under the dark cowl. "Or really good at blending into crowds."

"Yeah, must be," Robin still looked confused.

"Maybe…" the other man stroked his chin, which was sandpapery from lack of shaving. "…I'm assuming she might be an illusionist of some kind. That crowd probably isn't real…"

"We can find out," Robin grinned mischievously and tossed a couple of smoke pellets in the air, catching it with his gloved hand. He glanced down, and gasped. "Hey, they're gone!"

"See," Batman murmured, and the sidewalk was quiet and empty once more. He was a bit annoyed, he didn't like his mind to be messed with—after all, it had been messed with enough in recent times by the likes of those kinds of people, and look at the consequences of that—and he felt a bit annoyed at himself for letting his mind and his eyes be fooled so easily by a simple illusion, whether it be mental or possibly chemical. He sniffed the air, then opened a small kit from his belt to sample the air.

"Hey, Batman, I can do that for you," Robin offered. "Why don't you go?"

The latter nodded, handing the kit to Robin, and without another word, leapt off into the night.


	2. Move Order

**Chapter Two: Move Order**

The light made his eyes hurt. It took quite a lot of black coffee at ten o' clock in the morning to make things come into focus and make proper sense. At least this time, Bruce Wayne wasn't playing his normal, airhead, loopy self, he really was so fatigued he came off naturally that way this morning. At least it was easier; he didn't think he could actually think about acting. He covered his mouth as he tried to cover up his rude yawn, as the morning meeting dragged on and on. He wished Lucius Fox hadn't forced him to attend the meeting, as Fox normally carried things out without him, but for some reason he had insisted that Bruce attend an unfortunately early meeting. He had gotten home at around sunrise, six in the morning, but had spent a good two hours still researching the criminals they had encountered the night before, especially that strange white-coated woman. So he had gotten more or less an hour and a half of sleep after two days of no sleep, and even though he was used to such things, it didn't help matters that he was annoyed at being called into this meeting.

"So…without further ado, I'd like to introduce Miss Emma Frost of Frost International, Chief Executive. Let's all give her a warm welcome," Fox said as the woman and her entourage entered the room.

Bruce stood up with the other people seated, and even before he noticed the woman he noticed nearly every man in the room staring at her intently. He glanced upwards, seeing the woman's beautiful face, framed by wisps of light blond hair. Her attire, however, was probably the thing everyone was looking at. She was wearing a cream prim business suit, albeit a very low cut, tight little number with a short skirt and high white leather stiletto boots. A couple of the women around the table glared at her outfit. "And, of course, we have our very own Bruce Wayne here today to meet you, miss Frost, in hopes that the new relationship between Frost International and Wayne Industries will be a bountiful, wonderful one indeed." Everyone turned and looked at Bruce, who had promptly fallen asleep, laying back in his thick leather chair at the opposite end of the table.

"Had another late night, eh Bruce? Party boy?" a board member lightly kicked him in the leg with his foot and the man snorted awake.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Just resting my eyes," he smiled sheepishly. Perhaps it was another ruse to prove his foolish persona, or maybe he had _really_ fallen asleep. He wasn't sure if even he knew. The other man rolled his eyes, not believing that Bruce was such a decadent playboy that he didn't even consider the arrival of a gorgeous and rich woman ready to meet him worthy enough for even keeping awake for. He got up out of his chair and walked towards the front of the room, where Emma was waiting. He took her hand and kissed it in an obligatory fashion.

"Charmed, miss Frost."

"Likewise, Mr. Wayne," she said in a light tone, taking her hand back a bit soon.

She smiled at him, but it was the same cold smile she reserved for everyone else in the room. There was something odd about her, exuding a sense of confidence that was unparalleled, like she knew she could take anything she wanted, right then and when she wanted it.

"Perhaps the two of you would like a private lunch together? After all, this thing is going to get busy and loud with all the numbers and I don't think you'd like that sort of thing," Lucius winked.

"Are you trying to set me up?" Bruce laughed. "Well, it's sounds all well and boring, so if you don't mind, Miss Frost, would you care to join—"

"Money, boring? Don't be absurd, my dear Bruce," she smiled enigmatically when she automatically used his first name.

"Money interests me, and I do take care that I know what these suits are doing with mine," she tapped a highly manicured finger on his red tie. She looked up again, biting her lip playfully, taking in his entire appearance, from his black, slicked back hair to his shiny, expensive shoes. She was a flirt, indeed. But there was more intelligence and cunning in those blue eyes than she let on with her actions.

"However, I don't care for the noise. I'll take you up on that offer, dearest, after we finish all this _boring _money business."

Two hours later, Bruce was trying not to yawn as he waited for the elevator to come down. He tapped his foot. Emma was apparently very high maintenance and had to duck in the bathroom to 'freshen up' and probably restyle her hair or something. He had nodded off quite a few times in the rest of the meeting, but the times he was cognizant he had noticed something…off about the way Frost handled things. She was flirty with all the men there, even the old and ugly ones, and everything…every _single_ thing, went _her_ way. She was getting an excellent deal, and only Fox's keen insight prevented his own company from probably getting shafted. So he did not trust her in the least. What was the deal with all these men falling over backwards to please her and give her the answers she wanted?

It was almost…artificial.

He was glad he was getting some time alone with her. She had stared at him a few times during the meeting, asking him an odd question or two. He hadn't met such a persuasive person in such a long time. He caught himself agreeing with her twice before he realized that he really didn't want to. It was almost like he had to remember his own willpower existed when he was around her, and that was the effect she had on the other men. The other women, despite their initial reaction at her dress, treated her like she was an actress, a movie star, and even began asking for makeup and hair tips. And no one, not even Fox, had heard of Frost International before this week. It was like they sprouted up out of nowhere. Bruce smelled a very perfumed and pretty rat.

"Bruce, dear, there you _are_, sorry I took so long but you know how it is for us women," she burst out of the elevator doors before everyone else and linked her arm with his. She was a few inches shorter than him, but her high heels made up the difference. He glanced down at her white coat. A flashback ensued—the white trenchcoat of the woman that they saw last night. He blinked. Could that be her? How many blonde women with white trenchcoats were there at this time of year? He studied her gait to see if it was similar to that woman's. She mistook it for admiration and laughed lightly.

"Bruce, _really_, people are staring. I know your reputation, young man. Don't try it with me, I'll see _right_ through you."

"Oh, I'll try it for at least another half an hour," he bantered back automatically, a canned response already filtered out. He really hadn't the time for his 'rep' as it were lately, Batman was his life and took up his life, but he didn't lose his touch, he liked to think.

A quiet limo ride later, they were seated in a fancy restaurant a few blocks from his building, just having ordered their meals.

"So, Bruce," Emma said, folding her hands under her chin. "You were awful quiet back at the office. What do you think about my company?"

"It's nice, as companies go," he took a sip of the thickest black coffee he could find. She winced, it looked like motor oil to her.

"If you don't mind me being frank, I really haven't heard of you…at all. Where are you from?"

"Well I spend an awful lot of time in New York," she said a bit wistfully, her eyes distant, almost sad. "I…taught in Massachusetts before."

"Oh, so you're also a teacher? How interesting," he said with his own charming half grin.

"Yes, well, I find it actually more interesting than money, if you can believe it. There are other things in life besides…lying around tropical beaches for months on end," she raised a thin eyebrow at him, amused.

"Don't think I haven't heard of you, Bruce."

"Everyone's heard of me," he smirked. Odd though, he was a bit confused. The way she talked was like she had _just_ heard of him. But if she was in the business world, she would have had to heard of him from the start, not that he was being arrogant, it was just a fact.

"Yes," she said a bit strangely and sat back in her seat. There was a small awkward silence before Bruce broke it.

"So…did you just get in town this morning?"

"No, I've been here a couple of days. Saw the sights, as it were. Lovely city."

_Aha_.

"Have you seen everything yet? Any parts you'd like me to…show you around?"

"Not the bad parts," she smiled. "I saw it by helicopter, and stayed in my penthouse most of the time."

"Ooh, are you planning on living here?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Bruce, dear?" she echoed his smirk.

"For a little while, until I get things…straightened out. With our companies, of course." She moved in closer across the table.

"Don't you think it'd be beneficial for us to have such a close relationship?"

"Company wise, of course," Bruce raised a dark eyebrow. There was something so persuasive about the way she talked like that.

"Oh, of course." She grinned. "Don't you think we'd be more powerful together? We take on the _world_…nothing can stop us. Together."

"Together?" He echoed. Odd, his willpower itself seemed to fade. Not that he got all embarrassed and foolish when a pretty lady was about, but it was just like he was a schoolboy again and didn't know what to say. What was he saying? He wasn't even _like_ that when he was in school, that was more of a Clark type thing.

"_Look_, Miss Frost," he backed up, like a cornered animal—when did she get so close to him, was it really that small of a table?—"I don't think you're saying what I think you're saying…and my company has always valued its individualism and if you're proposing a merger—"

"Me? A merger, don't be _silly_." She backed off, and there was a hint of annoyance in her eyes. _Annoyance that you can't con your way into this one_, Bruce thought darkly. If his suspcions were correct, and after all, he was one paranoid person, if this girl was the same as yesterday, then he had to _seriously_ be on his guard, mentally. But what did this already rich woman need with petty bank thievery? The question nagged at him as the waiter brought their food.

"There's something different about you than most men in this business," she said after a bite of her fresh salad.

"Maybe you're just used to women flinging themselves at you?"

"I don't care for being baited, Miss Frost. If you're going to say something, just say it," he said a bit darkly.

"I suspected there was a smarter man under that flighty façade, Mister Wayne," she smiled after a dainty bite of her lettuce. Bruce paused, chewing his steak thoughtfully. If he could possibly be even more suspicious…what if she did have some kind of odd power?

What if she was…the clues certainly pointed in the right direction…telepathic? It would explain what was happening to those shrewd businesspeople back there, and the weird vibe he was getting now. Or maybe he really was getting paranoid. He needed a vacation. It was getting hot in here. He dabbed at his forehead with his cloth napkin.

"I know I make a lot of men nervous, Bruce, dear, but really, you needn't worry. I'm only interested in the company," she said a bit coldly, but then added, "For now."

"Oh," he said kind of numbly, and relieved. He had to put this in overdrive or lose his 'façade', as it were.

"Oh, well. I mean…that usually doesn't happen to…I don't mean to be conceited or anything but…what? I mean…huh?"

"Never mind what I said about being smart," her face turned a bit amused. "But don't worry about being vain, it's a _proud_ trait of mine. If you really insist, then I'll go on that date with you tonight."

"…What date?"

"I'm sure you've been wanting to ask me. Tonight, I'll ring by your house and we can go from there. I'll get my driver to take me there. Take me someplace just _gorgeous_ in Gotham. 7:30, okay? Try not to be late."

"Uh…okay?" he grinned sheepishly, and was relieved at the look she gave him as she ate, like she believed once gain that he was the charming, alibeit a little dumb, Bruce that he'd always have been. She was rather vain indeed, or perhaps it was just part of her charm. He still wouldn't trust her as far as he could throw her. Throw her like a large dark object was flung out of the corner of his eye. Instincts honed to perfection, his head shot around to see a dark…floating…figure in the street through the restaurant window, flinging cars around. Not touching them. Telekenisis or something.

"Emma do you see tha—" he looked at her and she was staring at the same thing, her mouth a little open.

"I don't believe it," she said breathily.

"I…don't either. In fact…I think I'm going to be sick. I'm getting _out_ of here before that…that _thing_ comes this way! Look, he's breaking all the windows in the street! He's probably after money and_ I_ have money and—" Bruce knocked over his chair in a clumsy display of fear and was about to run for the back when Emma grabbed his arm.

"And leave the girl? How heroic." She rolled her eyes. But the strange figure did indeed telekinetically break the windows of their very restaurant and everyone within began screaming.

"Come on, we can go through the back." She got up quickly.

Bruce cursed under his breath. He wanted to make a quick getaway to change into Batman and how could he now with this woman following him? He wondered if Supes had this problem…

His problem was answered when suddenly a beam of steel was thrown in their direction and crashed through what was left of the windows. Everyone in the restaurant went into a frenzy and the power went out. Bruce dissapeared in an instant.


	3. Main Line

**Chapter Three: Main Line**

Batman appeared in an instant. He leaped off the rooftop and onto the street, where the dark figure was lazily sending cars into the air, while sirens rang around. The police hadn't gotten here yet, save one cruiser that was in the neighborhood and was now levitated in midair. Batman couldn't see if there was anyone inside but if they were, they were in a seriously dangerous position. He winced behind his lenses in the sunlight, he hated working in the day but of course he really did have no choice now, did he? Most of Gotham's criminals tended to appear at night themselves. Perhaps this one was yet another out of towner.

It seemed to be a male, wearing a dark hooded robe with a trim of red at the edges of the cape-like robe. He couldn't see his face but a small portion of a pale chin. It was vaguely reminiscent of that Star Wars emperor. He didn't see him yet, and surprise was the key. He grabbed his grappling gun, wishing he had Robin here to back him up. Unfortunately the kid was in school. He was alone. He shot the grappling hook, aiming for the feet hidden under the folds of black cloth, but the hook suddenly froze in midair as the creepy figure took notice.

"Dare you to attack the _Arbiter_!?" The figure yelled, blasting Batman back some kind of psychic blast and across the rooftop. He suddenly was blasted back himself into the wall of the building across the street…no, he fell down, clutching his head and yowling.

"Yes, dear, I do." Batman got up rather indignantly to see a blonde woman standing at the edge of the roof proudly. She was wearing a white trenchcoat…it was her, the woman from yesterday.

Emma Frost.

"Is that a thank you, I hear, Mister Batman?" she said, not turning around when he approached her.

"Arbiter is powerful, yes, but not as powerful as I. A nuisance. All telekinesis, and no brains. I can easily trigger his pain centers to the highest degree, he has no idea how to stop me. Whoops, there we go—'

Batman grabbed her arm and pulled it as if it had anything to do with her power, not liking this in the least.

"This is _my _city," he growled in his deep, raspy voice. "And _I'll _take care of things."

"Oh yes, the _males_ and their _territory_ thing. I didn't think Bats were the kinds of animals to make a pit stop at every fire hydrant now—oww, you're twisting."

She glared at him. "Really, I help you and this is the _thanks_ I get? You wouldn't last a second with him. Want to try? He's not as strong as he could be but he's got an awful lot of raw power and he might get a lucky shot in. Your police friend could have been smashed into a pulp, but I managed to bring him down in time." She motioned carelessly to the cruiser lopsidedly landed safely on top of a taxi cab.

"You're telekinetic too?"

"Not…really. I just used his mind to do it. He _really_ has no defenses whatsoever, the dimwit. Well, let's clean this up, shall we, Bats?" She smiled at him cheerfully, and pulled her arm out of his grasp, but his 'look' was so daunting she folded her arms.

"What? He's down and out, don't worry."

"I saw you at the bank robbery. You are a criminal."

She looked a bit fidgety, but shrugged, and tossed her blonde hair back. "Oh, that. Yes, well, I'm not _really_ a petty thief but—so that was you up there, wasn't it? There was a boy with you—"

"You _are_ a criminal, and I'm going to take you _in_." He grabbed her arm again.

"Really, have you any idea how to treat a lady? A bit obsessed about this criminal thing, aren't we?"

Batman let go of her arm, suddenly realizing the danger he was in, blinded to it before by the urgency of the situation. If she could read his mind…he immediately focused, bringing all his martial arts training to hand. He had to clear his mind. Think of nothing. Complete control.

She glanced at him. "I'd assume so. But before you 'take me downtown' like a good girl, let's see who you are, Batman. I haven't much time around masked heroes, they all usually parade their little faces for all the world to see. A man who wears a mask, well…I'll say that—"

A look of concentration came across her beautiful face. The same look crossed across Batman's. She was trying to access his mind, he could feel it, he could tell. Some random memories surfaced for no reason. Alfred tending to his side when he was sick. A date with Vicki Vale.

_No_, he would _not_ let his mind be opened like this again! He hated this sort of thing…his very mind had been wiped by some members of the JLA, a few minutes of memory was robbed him. It had made him hyper-paranoid, and some of those old feelings, despite him having gotten over most of it, still remained.

She grunted. "Bit of a toughie, aren't we, Bats? You've got a very…interesting mind, indeed. You are no match for me, unfortunately."

He said nothing, though a detached part of him mused that if an onlooker came here, he'd just see two people with constipated looks on their faces standing at the edge of a rooftop staring at each other.

Emma reached deeper into his mind. It was so unusual, unlike any she'd ever seen before. It was dark in there, as she expected. Cavelike. She touched on his subconcious and was immediately repelled, and she gasped, horrified. She hadn't even seen anything but she suddenly felt cold, lost, alone…afraid. There was a child running in the darkness, a small boy with dark hair. He was laughing cheerfully, even though it was a dark cave.

She followed, yelling, "Wait!" He laughed, then tripped over a rock and fell on his face. He started crying, and picked up a few stray pearls from the ground. He sniffed and placed the pearls in her hands.

"What's this?"

He started crying again and ran off, and she followed, until there was a light ahead. It was the city, a warped version…well, Gotham was already pretty warped in her opinion but this was creepy. There was a bright yellow light, and she blinked and they were at an opera house, and the little boy was now wearing a suit and holding the hands of a man and a woman. The woman was wearing a pearl necklace, and they were walking down the alley next to the opera house.

Emma followed behind them, looking at the pearls in her hand. His mother and father, no doubt. When she looked up again, there was a man in front of them. He asked for their money…and suddenly everything went to pieces. The boy's cries were so loud she covered her ears, and before she knew it the man and the woman were on the ground, dead. The boy wailed and broken pieces of the necklace scattered across the ground. Something red fell. Emma looked down and saw that she was shot too.

"What the…" the boy wasn't a boy anymore, but a Bat. A giant, horrible, B-movie monster of a bat, five stories tall and was now towering over her.

"Oh, cliché, but you've gotta be kidding me—" she turned to run but there was a brick wall in front of her. There was a spray paint graffiti of a Robin's symbol, with the sloppy, dripping red letters scrawled across it: "Here Lies Jason Todd." There was a mangled wheelchair with a hideous clown's face on the seats in the corner, and it was laughing maniacally.

The Bat-creature roared and it felt so real, the hot breath that seared across her face. "Frost…" She screamed with terror as it came closer like it was going to eat her. "Frost!" it roared. She closed her eyes.

"Miss Frost!" The voice rang out clear and she suddenly snapped out of her reverie. She looked up into the face of the horrible bat-creature, it was going to eat her—no…wait. It was daytime. It was only Batman.

"I'm..." she breathed heavily, like coming out of a nightmare. Sweat dripped off her forehead, hair plastered against her face stickily. She was surprised to find she was still standing.

"What…what happened?"

"I don't know," he said. "You fell unconcious."

"Ah…right…" she blinked, the memory of the day coming back to her. She wiped the sweat from her brow.

She suddenly gasped and felt her stomach. No bullet wound.

Emma gazed at him, disturbed. What kind of man had a mind like that? His subconscious sucked her into its own dreams and created one horrible nightmare. Unless that was the life he lived.

But it didn't make sense. She was too powerful and her powers were too refined for her to make such a juvenile mistake as to get lost in another person's mind. She shook her head, trying to clear it. It was like there were two whole…entities in there.

That boy, and that monster. She could feel each one so separately.

"Tell me, dear, have you ever seen the psychiatrist? It isn't that bad, believe me," she asked shakily as she got up. Normally she wasn't bothered by the things she saw inside people's minds but this had gotten her spooked. She couldn't even try to control it, even though surface illusions apparently got to him, as of last night. Deeper in, at that subconscious level, it was too much of a tangle.

"Were you trying to get in my _mind_?" he asked in that growly voice. She shuddered, remembering the bat-monster.

"Erm, not anymore. Say, you aren't a mutant, are you? Because you have the most excellent defenses I've ever seen. Albeit disturbing, but good in a pinch."

"A mutant?" He didn't sound like he recognized the term

"Oookay, perhaps you and I, mister Bats, ought to have a little chat. Our friend down there'll be fine, I'll just place a little inhibitor in his mind so he can't use his powers for the time being." She wiped a stray piece of hair from her face. "Anyplace we can talk without being heard?"

Batman pointed upwards towards a high office building's roof silently.

"Fine, perfect. Lead the way."

"You can't fly or anything, can you? Because I'll have to carry you."

"I don't weight that much," she said with a smirk, feeling a little more like herself.

It was kind of nice, being carried by Batman, he was strong and whatever he used for that grappling hook thingy was strong too. They landed more or less gracefully on top of the tall office building and indeed, it was so high up that they wouldn't be overheard, unless some nosy pencil pusher would come out for a smoke or something.

"Sit down, Bats, this might take awhile," they both sat at the edge of the roof. It was windy, and her hair kept blowing around frantically. He scowled at her penchant to use his name like that.

"So you don't know what mutants are? I really can't believe that. Have you heard nothing in the news over the past, what say ten, twenty years? Well, apparently you aren't one, but I could've thought so…"

"You mean meta. Meta-human."

Her face was blank.

"Powered human? Super human? You have 'powers.' You're meta."

"It's like we're speaking a different language," she laughed, and adjusted her coat, as it was chilly up there.

"I think I know why. They said that our world had been…there was some kind of calamity with all the alternate universes and ours had been smashed together with another's, if I can put it that way."

"We've had something similar, yes."

"In any case, reality had been messed with. X-men…good mutants that are fighting for all that good stuff, kept disappearing. Reappearing here. I haven't been in contact with anyone in ages. I know Beast is here, and maybe…Kitty, but I haven't heard…"

"That's why no one's heard of your company until last week. Something happened to tie your reality with this one and people are leaking through the holes."

"Er…yes. That's a better explanation than I have at the moment, anyway. How do you know so much about me?"

"You don't wear a mask, Miss Frost."

"Ah _yes_. Everyone here does. 'Cept that Superman fellow. My goodness, I'd love to get the reasoning behind _that_ one."

"So would I," Batman muttered so dryly she had to wonder if he had actually cracked a joke, but she had a feeling he'd never admit to something like that.

"So I'm stuck here, unless my whole 'world' as it were comes here. Maybe it will. Maybe it won't. I'm not sure if I want it to or not. It's best to leave old skeletons behind, hmm? Maybe you should take a leaf out of that." She said it rather sadly, as if she was remembering something very unpleasant from her past.

"Never look in my mind. _Again_," he said angrily and got up.

"Oh, like I would _want_ to!" she got up after him. "You're crazy, you know that, Bats? I couldn't even see who you really were! You know why?"

"Because I'm Batman, that's why! And _don't_ call me Bats!"

"Yes! Yes, you _are_ Batman," she stalked in front of him. "There wasn't any alter ego, just _you_. Okay? Does that make you happy?"

"Tell me something I don't know," he said grimly.

"You need _help_. You're obsessed about a murder…or something. You've got a very creepy mind, needless to say. I nearly got lost in there!"

"I forced you out," he said curtly.

"No one forces me out," her eyes widened in anger. "I got myself out! Your willpower isn't great enough to force _me _out!"

"My willpower is a lot greater than you think," he muttered.

"You're just a human! I'm a mutant. I can do a lot worse to you than you'd think. I went easy on you. Just because I can't get in doesn't mean I can't do _this_—"

He suddenly winced with pain, but grunted and didn't say anything.

"Or _this_!" She activated his pleasure centers but there was no evidence on his face, save a twitch and narrowing of the eyes.

She groaned. "Don't tell me you're so twisted that you can't ever be _happy_! What is _wrong _with you, Bats?"

"I'm just a human."

She winced, and then promptly kicked him in the shin. She had never met a person without _powers_ that was so able to anger her so, and was able to evade her. She was sure if she tried really hard she could take him down, but to take that kind of exertion for a normal person? Scratch that, he wasn't normal. And she thought _she _had diamond skin. She hadn't come across anyone colder than herself. Even if she did have diamond skin…she had a feeling that maybe he'd still be able to defeat her _anyway_ somehow. He was an odd one, that was for sure. And being the power hungry woman that she was, used to dealing with all types, she knew she'd rather have this type _on_ her side than _against_ her.

As annoying as he was.

"Well, what are you going to do now, _Bats_, arrest me?" The only reason why she kept calling him that was simply because he told her not to, and it annoyed him. "Cause you know, I did steal that money."

He glared at her. "Why?"

A raised eyebrow. She could tell he didn't like her very much, either. "Because. It wasn't just the money you know. I'm not that much of a klepto, despite it all."

"You're trying to frame someone."

"You _are_ good. Yes, there's tracking numbers and all kinds of lovely things on those bags, and I managed to plant them where they needed to be. You got the little men, and I got the big men. They're probably going to be in jail tonight, if all goes well."

"I don't think you're much of a vigilante. What's in it for you?"

"Now _that_, my dear Bats, is the mystery." She began to walk away, towards the stairs door. A dark gloved hand grabbed her slender one, it was strong and tugged her back. That irritated her as well.

"I didn't say you could leave."

"I have a business to run, and I'm quite late. And my date had some kind of panic attack and is probably hiding under the toilets or something."

His hand let go, as she mistook the gesture as 'permission' to leave and the door closed behind her. But Batman was surprised, was what it was. She hadn't figured out his identity, even with looking at his mind. He wasn't sure whether to trust her word on that she wasn't a criminal, or even if he ran back downstairs and became Bruce Wayne again, would she figure it out.

Or simply _maybe_, she was still playing with him, and his mind. And that's why he let her go.

* * *

Stay Tuned for Chapter 4!_  
_

_Or Else_. (Says Batman.)


	4. Centralization

**Chapter Four: Centralization **

"So this…this is uh, the most exciting place Gotham has to offer?" Emma tapped her foot impatiently, looking right at an elderly gentleman that seemed to have fallen asleep standing up. "Fabulous party, darling."

"It's a charity event, thought it'd be right up your alley," Bruce said, though one could say he looked equally bored. The guests were sparse, hardly talking, and there was nothing going on.

"It'd be a charity if someone did something more entertaining than blink and breathe." Emma sighed. "Don't tell me you Gothamites are really like this." She glanced towards him slyly, though inwardly she knew he must be dying about not being able to go out and protect his beloved city once it was dark.

"Believe me, we know how to party. I think…" The elderly gentleman fell over but Bruce caught him up just in time, and placed him back upright. He didn't wake up and continued to snore. "See, what happened is I think that one popular band that was supposed to show up canceled and most of the younger beneficiaries bolted for more interesting clubs. Their money is there, they have no more obligation to come—"

"Which means neither do _we_. Show the way to a little livelier place, Bruce darling…"

"Yes, _Bruce darling_, why don't we go someplace a little more lively?" A gruff, annoyed voice said from somewhere up high in the main ballroom. Gunshots flew out, and the lights flickered on and off.

"Nobody's movin' or you'll get it!"

Since there were so few people around and most of them senior citizens, there were enough villains to go around for each person. Suddenly everyone found themselves with a gun to the back of their head. "Hands up so we can get to da wallets."

"We're just comin' for a little swag, dat's all." Said a sinister voice in the back of Bruce, as he felt the cold nose of the gun at the base of his neck, and he raised his hands tentatively. He recognized the voice, it was Tin-Can Davey, a minor thug often flitting from operation to operation in search of more money, his loyalty was based on whoever paid the most and he was often said to be a squealer.

"Be careful what you wish for, Emma. I mean, you did want me to take you someplace exciting…"

"_Do _shut up, Bruce." She rolled her eyes, her own hands raised as well. They were both facing the front direction and couldn't directly look at each other, but they had an excellent view of a vaguely well-dressed gang of men going about and frightening the old people and dumping jewelry and other goods in plain black bags. They all had ski-masks and about the same build.

Bruce was watching Emma out of his peripheral, wondering why she hadn't done anything to render those men unconscious, or controlled them, or however she did it. Was this like last time, with the Arbiter? Maybe she was in on it.

"Hey, rich boy. Which pocket?"

"Left."

"Tanks, genius. How about your pretty little date here, huh? Mebbe we ought to steal her along, too?"

"Do it and you are quite dead, dear, and I shan't be held responsible for my actions."

"I tink dat you don't realize who's got da guns here, missy."

"On the contrary, I do." The man suddenly crumpled, as well as the rest of all of the gang, slowly, one by one.

"What happened?" Bruce pulled his hands down, checking the man for a pulse. One never knew, around her…

"The flu, it just comes out of nowhere. Spread quite easily, I suppose."

_Click._ "Yeah? Well, you forgot one. Me." Emma looked annoyed as one guy she missed pulled a gun to her back. "And your little trick won't work on me, either."

"Ah, one of _us_. I do say, nice move and all that. I was beginning to worry at the sloppiness of this operation; I mean really, it was rather quite cliché. Does this building even suck away the life of robberies?"

"Ha, you're as funny as ever, Emma." He pulled off his ski mask, revealing a mop of shaggy red hair and a scar across his left eye, which was a dull sort of blue.

She shrugged. "What are you trying to prove? That you're the lead Pawn or something? You're nothing." She winced as he knocked the gun against her shoulder blades, which were quite exposed due to her shiny white dress.

"Leave her alone," Bruce said in a slightly scared voice. "Don't touch her."

"What are you gonna do, rich boy? Pay me off? Maybe I oughta snag d'both of youse and getcha ransom." Another gun was pulled against Bruce and he was told to turn around. Inwardly, he grimaced, outwardly, he looked terrified.

"Don't hurt us! You can have anything you want!" He said in a higher, quavering voice.

"Dat's the idea. But unfortunately, my orders were to knock you off, Wayne. Dunno what you did to upset somebody but…oh well."

Bruce's eyes narrowed, and he spared a glance towards Emma. The only reason why anyone would want to knock off his alter-ego (besides insurance money and the company) was because they _knew_ and wanted Batman out of the way. Or maybe one of the actresses he dated was really mad at his sudden departures…

But he began the obligatory protest. "What!? Why!? Is it the company? There's no way they could get the company by simply killing _me _off, it doesn't work that way!"

"Dunno, but dat's my orders. Sorry, rich boy. It's been a pleasure." The sound of gun cocking in the back of his head. Emma's silence. The tiny sound of a trigger being squeezed slowly.

#$&.

Bruce threw his upper body forward and slammed his heel into the inner part of the man's ankle, hearing the blast ring off just above his head. His hearing immediately protested and fuzzed out, a loud ring blaring inside his eardrums. He jammed his elbow into the solar plexus and grabbed the man's other arm, judo-throwing him over his shoulder and causing him to fall flat on his back. He kicked away the gun, it went clattering against the wall and fell behind some potted plant. Another shot rang (albeit, really muffled due to the first blast going off too close to his head) and there was a short ripping sound and a stinging sensation just above his shoulder. Crap, a ricochet. Someone was still shooting at him, even though Emma had taken out the men. Despite his misgivings, he grabbed Emma and dragged her behind the large potted plant. Another shot embedded itself into the ceramic with a crash.

"Here." Emma found the gun that had been kicked in this direction and put it into Bruce's hands. He dropped it like it was burning.

"No."

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with defending yourself."

"I'm not using that." He said in a low voice, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, what are you going to _use,_ Bruce, against guns? Your good looks?"

"Don't think I'm stupid, Emma. You _know_."

She narrowed her own eyes, very miffed. "Know _what_?"

"I'm not stupid."

"All appearances are to the contrary." She scoffed.

"You are the most _annoying_ person I had ever had the displeasure of meeting, and that includes a good many number of people. _Fine_. Go get your little _costume_. I'll hold them off."

She turned to the side and he was gone in an instant. Guy was fast, she'd give him that, she had no idea where to go at the moment but he seemed to have figured a way out of this and not be seen. Ah well, she had her own tricks. A glimmer and liquid diamond seemed to ripple across her skin and down her hair. A smirk. Bet he didn't see that one coming.

"Get ahead of me and I'll come in from the right," hissed a gruff voice near her ear, though when she looked he was already gone. Fast again. And didn't seem at all miffed by the diamond woman with a perturbed and rather displeased look on her face.

The shots still were ringing out everywhere but when she ran forward they had stopped already. The sound of a body crumpling to the ground. Batman standing over the unconscious Pawn. Emma stomped over, her hands clenched into fists.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Excuse me?"

"You didn't have to upstage me, you know. I could have _taken_ him!"

He seemed to roll his eyes under the cowl and proceeded on tying his cuffs onto the now unconscious man. Emma tapped her foot, crossing her arms.

"You obviously know that he's psychic, then." She felt just a tad uneasy now that both their identities were out amongst each other and they could speak like this.

"Yes."

"And…he can get out of wherever you and your police force are going to put him."

"So?"

"What? Ohhh…oh, clever Bat. I get it. You're going to use him as bait and figure out where this band of thieves came from." She laughed a little. "You don't think they're going to see right through it?"

"Probably." He finished tying the hands and moved to the feet.  
"And that doesn't bother you?"

"No."  
She stamped her foot unconsciously, he still managed to aggravate her with this…this lack of…talking-ness. And she was in diamond form and usually her own coldness bothered people.  
"Fine. Fine, you go ahead and walk right into a trap. _Sorry_ for trying to warn you. I shan't do anything of the sort _ever_ again."

"You don't need to warn me." He finally shot a glance towards her. "I can handle whatever they have."

"Oh. You can handle it. Just because you managed to handle _my _little mind reading thing up there on that rooftop, you think you are equipped to go up against _them_? You _are _arrogant." She scoffed, throwing her hands on her hips.

"As if you are any different?" He had finished tying the feet and stood back up.

"And furthermore, you, Miss Frost, are able to withstand whatever they have. That's why you're going with me." He tapped a finger on her diamond shoulder. His eyes narrowed. "Or…do you not want to fight against them for some reason?"

"No reason. I have every right to bash them in the heads, figuratively, of course, as you do. They ruined my night. Possibly yours, but I don't know, maybe you like this sort of thing—" He had already begun walking towards a broken window and stepped out onto the thin ledge outside. "Hey! I'm still talking to you, you know! You can't just walk _out_ on me—"

He didn't say anything except he took out a grappling gun from his belt.

Emma rolled _her_ eyes. "Don't you ever _talk _when you're Batman? Look, I'm sure you're upset about our little rendezvous with the mind but—"

The look he gave her was so fierce she was almost quite glad that she had turned to diamond or it might've bothered her. Just a little.

"Okay, more than a little upset. If we had switched places, wouldn't you have done the same?"

"No."

"What if I didn't help you, hmm? What if I told you I wasn't going to help you in this new, mysterious case the great detective has to crack?"

"Then I'd say you were the dangerous femme fatale that has the smoking gun inside her purse."

Another scoff. "_Ohhh_! Oh, that's it, isn't it! You think _I _set this up!? How could you _think_ that? You _totally_ think that, you _do_."

"Then prove me wrong and come with me. Or I'll come back when I'm done, find you, and turn you in."

Emma scowled. If she had been Jean, she would have totally toasted him by now and probably half the city.  
"I _hate_ you."

"The feeling is mutual, Miss Frost. Let's go."

* * *

**Chapter Five is a comin' soon!**


End file.
